Reports are in that Vinyl (formerly The Diner, formerly The Diner, formerly something else) has closed indefinitely. And that the opening by the same owners of Vinyl of Jardin Wine & Tapas Bar in the former Neon's spot does not look promising.

The opening of a sushi bar/restaurant/lounge/thingy in the former Jump space still looks to be on track. That with the openings of Cue and Speakeasy in the former RBC and Japp's spaces make this turn out to be... a wash?

And, hey, there's always The Exchange, which now looks like the Main St. veteran (not counting Kaldi's which will probably be there until armageddon).

Bars opening, closing, re-opening. They've been trying to re-create the Main St. Entertainment heyday of the late 1990's for 8 years now. But I believe that it's fruitless. Neighborhoods evolve, especially the ones in OTR. Main St. had its day as an entertainment stop, now why not let it have a chance at being a real neighborhood? Or an arts district? The entertainment is moving downtown to the CBD where frankly I believe it belongs. Let OTR be a residential area, and let the Central Business Disctrict have the businesses.

One block over on Vine in The "Q" (worst name for a "district"), space is being flooded with retail and residential (with significant corporate backing of course). This is Main Street's chance to open a video store, a real grocery store, more neighborhood restaurants like Courtyard Cafe to go along with the theaters.

Again, I have no problem with a bar district in OTR. I just think the time is right for something else.

3 comments:

Some of the residents I've talked to feel the same way. They love it now that the bars are gone.The bar scene tends to be trendy and now Main St has the been there/done that baggage to carry. I don't think the crowd is coming back.Final Fridays have been very well attended the last 6 months or so, time to give the arts a shot.